[ Ref. "Today's Market for Piano Rolls", 020428 MMDigest ]
Okay, so we blame the consumer. I'll play along anyway. How about
the following Duo-Art titles. Hey Robbie, I never said I was the best
"nominator" of rolls. I suggest we open the process to others who
likely have suggestions that might fare better. By suggesting we do
this, you are now officially the tally keeper. Here's a twist: for
every roll you add to the list, you must agree to buy one already on
the list. How's that? The only problem I see here is identifying
sources for original (master) rolls. I guess we'll leave that to the
recutter, eh?
Why limit the list to 12? Let it grow! Make it available on-line so
that we can all add to it (with the proviso of buying one for each new
nominee). Make it a living document!
I'm a Duo-Art owner, so:
DA 3099 "Rhapsodie Hongroise #2" (Liszt), pb Cortot (Never released in
America. Killer showpiece that blows the common Paderewski version
away. Even if you don't like classical music, you've seen enough
cartoons with Bugs Bunny or someone else playing this piece to
recognize it immediately. Chuck it in the spoolbox and watch your
friends' jaws drop!)
DA 7447 "Danse Macabre" (Saint-Saens/Liszt), pb Horowitz (Another show
piece that dates back to my earliest memories of music appreciation in
grammar school. A tone poem that tells the story of ghosts rising from
their graves after midnight and partying till dawn when the rooster
crows sending them sadly back to their resting places. Even though
Horowitz said he hated his Duo-Art recordings, this one is pretty
cool!)
DA 0612 "Makin' Whoopee", pb Frank Milne (Already likely been recut to
death, but I've never seen one for sale.)
Final note: If someone reliable would like to take on the job of
cataloging rolls from kind souls who would loan their originals to
recutters, I'll gladly supply my 400 some-odd titles to start the list.
Actually, a tool for submitting them could be built on-line so that
others could add to the database. Maybe charge a fee to the recutters
for proving them sales leads? Robbie?
Ed Chaban
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